Only Duds knows for sure what he really earned from '93 to '97, or how much he avoided
paying in taxes, and guess what, he ain’t talkin'.

By J. Graber of Portland, Oregon.He is a former journalist and a graduate student in strategic communications at the University of Oregon, Portland campus.

"Keep your eye on the pea ladies and gentleman! Around and around it goes, where it
stops … we may never know."

Make no mistake about it, would-be governor Chris Dudley is playing a game here, but
instead of the elusive pea usually used by con men, he’s playing hide and seek with the
truth. And, unfortunately, this is a high stakes game with Oregon’s future he’s asking us
to wager.

When backed into a corner with no other way out, Dudley finally admitted he avoided
paying Oregon income tax by living in Camas, Wash. while playing for the Trailblazers
between 1993 and 1997. What we don’t know is, how much the millionaire athlete who
claims to love Oregon so much kept out of state coffers with his little maneuver while our
roads were aging and schools were beginning to ask students to share textbooks because
there aren’t enough to go around.

“It’s quite common to shuffle around and ask other buildings to send over text books
if they have extras,” Brookwood Elementary teacher Diane Brown said in a press
conference Friday. And the whole delicate system freezes up if too many students should
actually have to take a textbook home.

We don’t even really know for sure how much he did pay. Duds’ campaign first said he
paid $460,000 in taxes for those years, but now claims that number is actually closer to
$440,000.

So which number is it Duds? I mean it should be down in black and white, right?
Was there a smudge on someone’s glasses the first time they read the numbers?

We do know from public records requests that he earned about $12.19 million in salary
as a Trailblazer between 93 and 97, but he didn’t even pay Oregon taxes on all of that.

If you or I were to work for an Oregon business and live in Washington, we would pay
Oregon taxes on all of our salary. Not so for NBA players though, who only pay Oregon
taxes on games and practice days played in Oregon.

That’s how Duds got away with paying less than 4 percent in taxes in Oregon on his
total salary … while the average Oregonian pays about 5.6 percent after deductions.

But that’s not even the whole picture.

It’s not much of a stretch to figure someone pulling
down that kind of money also earned things like dividends, interest and capital gains.

Only Duds knows for sure what he really earned from '93 to '97, or how much he avoided
paying in taxes, and guess what, he ain’t talkin'.

Statistics suggest the average person in Duds’ income bracket would have earned about
another $4.7 million from '93 to '97 … not to mention any do-re-mi he may have got
from endorsement deals.

Duds wants to portray himself as a victim here, claiming he was mindlessly doing whatever his financial advisor suggested.

“I was, oh 26, 27 years old – my accountant said, ‘You would save some dollars if you
lived over here, and by the way, you’re twenty minutes from the arena and you’re living
on a lake.’ So I did it,” he said during a gubernatorial debate aired by KGW back in
April.

This doesn’t hold water for two reasons though.

First, at least 24 of Duds’ Trailblazer teammates seemed to care enough about Oregon
to live here. Are you telling me guys like Clyde Drexler and Buck Williams didn’t have
accountants suggesting similar tricks? Unlike Duds, they just didn’t listen.

And second, Duds isn’t exactly some simpleton who can’t understand the tax codes. He
got a double major in political science and economics from Yale.

Yes, that’s “economics” and “Yale”.

In fact, he’s worked as an economic adviser himself since leaving the NBA. Kind of
makes you wonder how many people he suggested getting out of paying Oregon taxes by
living in Washington, doesn’t it?

Comments

Not to split hairs with you, but I don't think the practice days are taxable. (The OAR gives specifics on how professional athletes are taxed...) You say 93 to 97. I have doubts, based on info in the public domain, about how he filed after that. There is no record of him voting prior to 04 and he retired in 03. Just because he bought a home in LO does not mean he would have filed as a resident. I have zero knowledge of his tax situation...I have just commented based on what others have posted and what I have gathered in the public domain. But I agree, he can and should share his tax returns to put this to rest.

We don't know which name to call him, that's why it would be nice to have him release something about himself. All we know for sure is that he must have been the poster child for affirmative action because from all outward appearances he clearly doesn't have the candle power to get into Harvard Law School any other way. Of course they are still looking for people who actually remember him both from Columbia and from Harvard. ...The things that make you go hmmmh?

...wait, his father AND grandfather went to Yale? Where have I heard this one before?

Wouldn't it be nice sometime if we elected public officials who worked a couple jobs to pay their way through state school, came out of grad school with $20k in debt and knew anything about the ways most of us live our lives?

Or even guys like Senator Merkley or Steve Novick who came from humble backgrounds and worked their tails off to end up with Ivy-laden diplomas?

Also, what about property taxes he didn't pay to Oregon? He owned his house in Camas. Those are Washington schools and roads that got that money, not Oregon.

And I have yet to see anything that proves he's helped anyone with their portfolios other than a brief stint of counseling NBA players. He calls himself a "Wealth Strategist" yet the SEC doesn't list any of his duties or what his role was/is at Filigree. It goes into some detail on his two partners. Also, the CFP board lists him as not practicing. I have been saying this for a while now: he's a "biography" as far as this Wealth "Strategist" stuff goes. Possibly crafted in order to use his celebrity to get business for his firm and now donors for his party and his campaign. He's a hand-shaker.

So right, Sonya, and the Dudley platform misaligns with the ORP platform...which raises the question, "Who rolled in this Trojan RINO?"

There is a much better choice, the only true (pro-life) Conservative in Greg Kord. (http://gregkord.com)

Mr. Kord is of/by/for the people and as you get to know him, you will learn of his Oregon-friendly mission to apply his motives and implement his methods after immediately calling for a Cabinet of subject matter experts to guide Oregon's incubation. The idea is for Oregon to become the model that other Sovereign states will want to emulate.

So right, Sonya, and the Dudley platform misaligns with the ORP platform...which raises the question, Who rolled in this Trojan RINO?

There is a much better choice, the only true (pro-life) Conservative in Greg Kord. (http://gregkord.com)

Mr. Kord is of/by/for the people and as you get to know him, you will learn of his Oregon-friendly mission to apply his motives and implement his methods after immediately calling for a Cabinet of subject matter experts to guide Oregon's incubation. The idea is for Oregon to become the model that other Sovereign states will want to emulate.

"Possibly crafted in order to use his celebrity to get business" ... Gee do you really think so? Darnit! There is no getting anything past you is there Sonya? Perhaps we should be asking ourselves what about our tax system and tax rates would cause a big wage earner like Dudley (and lots of others) to seek refuge from higher taxes over the river?

I would rather elect a man for Governor who is both smart enough to come in out of the rain and also smart enough to live across the river if it is advantageous to do so. The problem with re-electing Kitzhaber and other tax and spend liberals is they aren't smart enough with our money to be entrusted with spending it anymore

The specifics of this issue matter to me less than the spirit of Dudley's decision, and how he justifies that decision. Given that he relied on his accountant then, who will help guide his decisions as governor now?

That’s how Duds got away with paying less than 4 percent in taxes in Oregon on his total salary

...because his total salary from the Blazers is NOT SUBJECT TO OREGON TAXATION. He, and all professional athletes/entertainers, pay income tax in each tax jurisdiction for which they earn income. I think most states do this even if they don't have an income tax on their residents.

Based on the Blazers current schedule, the following percentages of Dudley's income would be taxable to the following states:

According to your recent comments list, this is the only tread you comment on. I guess that makes you a low level operative for the Dr. Do Over campaign. How much do they pay you? Btw, in the past several weeks I have the following # of comments on the following topics:

7 Oregon Business Leaders Publish Report on Oregon's Business Climate
5 Reefer Madness-or the song remains the same
3 The Oregon Business Association (OBA) Embraces Father of Dangerous Budget Agenda
3 I cannot reconcile the Two Americas
3 The Media Continues to Swallow and Regurgitate the Big Corporate Lie About Measures 66 and 67
2 If I were King of Oregon
2 Venture Capital Continues to Say Oregon Has Good Business Climate
1 Hypothetical Hysteria
1 Spanning the State: I have a Nightmare edition
1 Merkley: Don't blame friends for acts of enemies
1 The Rich Do Very Well When the Middle Class is Helped by Tax Cuts

excuse me adam smith but the only people still paying taxes are the top 50% of wage earners the people clearly not pulling their weight (or any weight...wait a minute they are at home gaining weight) are the other 50%

Robert Summer tries to distract by pretend Federal Income tax is the only tax anyone pays. We all know there bunches and bunches of taxes other than Federal Income Tax, don't we? Federal Gas Tax, FICA, State Taxes, sales taxes elsewhere, cable tax, etc.

Here's a link to reality from Ezra Klein at the WP and a John Stewart clip...

So who doesn't keep their tax records? Why can't Dudley show exactly what taxes he paid and to which state and municipalities? Or is there some money he owes along the way?? His accountant who seems to rule his life must keep copies of all those records.

"If you or I were to work for an Oregon business and live in Washington, we would pay Oregon taxes on all of our salary. Not so for NBA players though, who only pay Oregon taxes on games and practice days played in Oregon."

Exactly. This is how it works for all NBA players. Not just Chris Dudley. Why don't you attack Brandon Roy who has to pay income taxes the same way?

That’s how Duds got away with paying less than 4 percent in taxes in Oregon on his total salary … while the average Oregonian pays about 5.6 percent after deductions.

Again, he didn't get away with anything. All NBA players have to pay income tax based on the cities they play in. Moving to Camas didn't change this at all.

No, but their tax situation can be compared. Roy is paying the exact same way Dudley was - based on the city the games are in. Dudley didn't create the system - all NBA players are required to pay that way. Doesn't matter where they live. Portland, Seattle, or Camas.

If Brandon Roy decides to run for Governor of Oregon, it will be appropriate to ask the question, then. But for now, he isn't. But Adam does have a point, Washington is Roy's long-term home. The same couldn't be said for Dudley.

What we do know is that Clyde Drexler, Terry Porter and the others didn't move to Camas to dodge Oregon taxes while they were playing. Certainly Drexler and Porter were making likely significantly larger salaries than Dudley. Yet they gave enough of a damn about us to live HERE, not bug out to Washington.

This is all so incredibly lame. If Chris Dudley didn't love Oregon he wouldn't have chosen to come here as a free agent to end end his career. And when he did, he moved to Lake Oswego and has lived there ever since.

The amount of tax he saved early in his career--when he was here in between stops in Cleveland and New Jersey, and before he was traded (against his wishes) to New York--was a fraction of what hw would have paid had he lived in Oregon.

"If Chris Dudley didn't love Oregon he wouldn't have chosen to come here as a free agent to end end his career. And when he did, he moved to Lake Oswego and has lived there ever since."

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Yes, after he gained approval from his accountant, and after his taxable income declined considerably, he did decide to actually live in Oregon. Oregon owes the grace of his presence this time apparently to Dudley's tax accountant and the decline of his basketball career.

OK.
Q1. Republican
Q2. Republican
Q3. Democrat (For those with short memories reference the cabinet confirmations and Judge confirmations from 2001-2005, plus numerous pieces of legislation). Democrats invented this tactic, but like everything else, they now want to blame it on the Republicans. Just like D's would like people to forget that budgets originate in the House of Representatives, not the Presidency. (Look it up, it's in the Constitution).

So despite your claim, evidence shows that the D's want people to forget history as well.

Note to D's: Man up! You took control of Congress in 2007 and you own this economy. Bush's spending was bad, but you doubled and re-doubled it. You own it!

We'll see what the voters think this November. Vox Populi, Vox Dei. If it is you, then I am wrong. But if it is me, you are. Deal?

Actually, Ken, the Senate confirmed a higher rate of Bush's judicial nominations than it did Clinton's. Yes, they used the filibuster, but only in select cases, not for EVERYTHING -- that's unprecedented.

The Senate sessions with the most filibusters have been the last two, when the G.O.P. has made that their main tactic.

Although I think it's lame that Dudley chose not to pay Oregon taxes in the 1990's, I am far more concerned by the fact that people appear to be leaning in his direction because (rather than in spite of) the fact that he has zero policy experience.

The last thing we need is to bring in a governor with no experience. At the very least, Dudley should name his key policy people and chief of staff now so that voters will have the opportunity to vet the people who will be making the actual decisions in his administration should he manage to ride the anti-Democratic wave into Mahonia hall.

I think this is funny, that everyone is so worked up about this. This is it? A guy lives across the river, and he is a cheater who hates Oregon? I didn't know your love of state is measured by how much in taxes you pay.

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